Heklina brings her Trannyshack back to Los Angeles for one night only

Where will the savvy East Side gays, gals, and benders of gender (and “adventurous” types not afraid to leave the confines of West Hollywood) who love a legendary drag show be on Friday night? At the Echoplex for a rare Los Angeles performance of Trannyshack. Heklina and her troupe of traveling drag queens will be back in town to put on a show for a loyal crowd that knows it’s not everyday that they can catch this San Francisco institution in Los Angeles.

Heklina is the mother, hostess, and producer of Trannyshack, a legendary drag show that had a successful twelve-year run in San Francisco and was, and arguably still is, the drag show of San Francisco, much as The Dreamgirls Revue at Rage is the drag show of Los Angeles. But the two shows are remarkably different, sort of like an East Coast vs. West Coast kind of thing, only NorCal vs SoCal, and way friendlier (though imagining these queens bedecked in bandanas and brandishing handguns is sort of a mindblowing image.) While often the objective of The Dreamgirls Revue seems to be stunning female impersonation, Trannyshack is a different sort of show, as the queens dabble in everything from low-brow, gross-out humor to more conceptual performance art. Most often the Trannyshack performances are intended to keep the audience squealing with delight or laughing ‘till it hurts.

Now Heklina throws Trannyshack as a special event in San Francisco and travels the show around to other cities including Portland, London, Seattle, New Orleans, New York City, Waikiki—just last week—and Los Angeles. Though some obviously know of Trannyshack from San Francisco, it also receives terrific word-of-mouth in Los Angeles because every time the SF queens come to town, they put on an exceptionally memorable show.

For Friday’s show, Heklina’s bringing San Francisco-based queens Squeaky Blonde, Raya Light, Lady Bear, and Anna Conda to perform with LA-based queens including Fade-Dra, Phyllis Navidad, Rhea Litré, and Alaska Thunderf*** (sorry kids, can’t print her full name here, but that Alaska is one of the naughtiest!)

Doors open at 9 PM, though the show doesn’t start until 11 PM. And be grateful cover is only $10 – it’s a rare treat you’ll get to see these drag “queens of comedy” put on their one-of-a-kind show on our turf.

There’s only one night of Trannyshack when these queens are in town, but if you can’t make this performance, check out www.heklina.com to see when they’ll next be in LA.

Though the vibe of their show is distinctly different, the girls of The Dreamgirls Revue aren’t afraid to get funny either. Check out Southern California’s number one drag show, at Rage on Tuesday nights. The show starts a little after 10 PM.

DJ Dave Rape spins music before the show, during intermission and after, for those looking to get down and dance.

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Originally from the East Coast, Brody Brown has been a columnist and the features editor for The McGill Tribune, and a columnist for 365gay.com and the satirical newspaper The Pedestrian. Brody frequently found inspiration from his unusual experiences going out and enjoying life as a gay, young American living in Montreal, and later found even more when he moved into the heart of West Hollywood. Email Brody at brody510@hotmail.com